Results 7,601-7,620 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (3 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I can inform the Deputy that all primary and post- primary schools have access to psychological assessments either directly through the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA) whereby the school can have an assessment carried out by a member of the panel of private psychologists approved by NEPS, and NEPS will...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (3 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating resource teachers and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support. This now...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (3 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to advise the Deputy that approximately 9,950 Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) learning support/resource teacher posts, including those provided under the General Allocation Model, are being provided in primary & post primary schools in the 2011/12 school year in order to provide additional teaching support to pupils with special educational needs. This represents an increase of...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (3 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The processing of student grants is carried out by local grant awarding authorities – VECs and local authorities. In the circumstances, it will be necessary for the student in question to contact his grant awarding authority to ascertain the position regarding his grant application.

Written Answers — Education Schemes: Education Schemes (3 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy will be aware that my Department's home tuition scheme provides funding to parents to provide education at home for children who, for a number of reasons such as chronic illness, are unable to attend school. The scheme was extended in recent years to facilitate tuition for children awaiting a suitable educational placement and also to provide early educational intervention for...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (3 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I am pleased to advise the Deputy that a response issued last week from my Department to the school on the issues to which he refers. I have previously advised the Deputy the position in relation to the provision of an administrative principal posts in special schools. The Report of the Special Education Review Committee outlines that an administrative principal post should be appointed in a...

Written Answers — Residential Institutions Redress Scheme: Residential Institutions Redress Scheme (3 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I had a very constructive meeting with groups representing survivors of residential institutional abuse on 22nd July last, when we discussed the Government's approach to the proposed Statutory Fund to support the needs of victims of residential institutional abuse. A number of the groups represented at that meeting, including that referred to by the Deputy, raised a number of issues...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (3 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The Major Building Project referred to by the Deputy is currently at an early stage of Architectural Planning. The Design Team are currently working on finalising the Stage 1 submission (Preliminary Sketch Design) which is expected to be submitted to my Department shortly. When this submission is received, it will be reviewed by my Department and my officials will then be in contact with the...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (3 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The Major Building Project referred to by the Deputy is currently at an early stage of Architectural Planning. The Design Team are currently working on finalising the Stage 1 submission (Preliminary Sketch Design) which is expected to be submitted to my Department shortly. When this submission is received, it will be reviewed by my Department and my officials will then be in contact with the...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (3 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 72 and 73 together. The annualised cost of issuing hardcopy payslips to the approximate 94,000 school employees and pensioners, and staff employed by my Department and some bodies under its aegis, is €1.48 million. Consideration was given by officials in my Department in 2010, to making payslips available electronically to serving and retired school...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (8 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Under Budget 2011, the previous Fianna Fáil-Green party Government changed the qualifying distance criterion for the non-adjacent rate of student grant from 24kms to 45kms. The measurement of the distances for the non-adjacent rate of grant is a matter for grant awarding bodies. There has been no change as to how these distances are measured. As in the past for all cases, the shortest most...

Written Answers — Mental Health Policy: Mental Health Policy (8 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Work is under way on the development of Mental Health Guidelines for Schools involving personnel from my Department and the Health Service Executive. There will be an appropriate emphasis on the need for a whole-school approach to mental health including procedures on the way teachers should respond to mental health difficulties of individual students.

Written Answers — Mental Health Policy: Mental Health Policy (8 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The Department adopts a holistic and integrated approach to supporting the work of schools, and it is not possible to identify a number of officials who are uniquely responsible for promoting positive mental health. This issue spans the curriculum in schools, whole-school ethos, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, pastoral care, the provision of professional development for...

Written Answers — School Enrolments: School Enrolments (8 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The selection and enrolment of pupils in schools is the responsibility of the authorities of the individual school. My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in an area. However, this may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice. As schools may not have a place...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (8 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I assume that the Deputy is referring to potential changes to the student grant scheme under the Budget for 2012. The Deputy will appreciate that the preparation of the Estimates for any Budget is carried out on a strictly confidential basis and it would not be appropriate for me to comment on specific issues or proposals, including those relating to student grants, in advance of the Budget...

Written Answers — Higher Education Fees: Higher Education Fees (8 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 139, 156, 157, 175 and 179 together. As the Deputies will be aware, the reality of our economic situation presents significant challenges that have to be reconciled with limitations on public resources. Ireland must adhere to its agreed economic recovery programme in order to reduce the budget deficit to 3% of GDP by 2015 and to restore our independence. This...

Written Answers — Bullying in Schools: Bullying in Schools (8 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 140 to 143, inclusive, together. Under the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, all schools are required to have in place a Code of Behaviour and this code must be drawn up in accordance with the guidelines of the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB). The NEWB guidelines were issued to schools in 2008 and make it clear that each school must have policies to...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (8 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: A number of measures have been introduced in the education and training sectors to support unemployed people to retrain in information technology related skills. Springboard is a specific initiative to provide 6,000 part time higher education places targeted at unemployed people who have lost jobs in sectors where employment levels will not return and who will need new qualifications and...

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (8 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: For the Deputy's information, work is ongoing in my Department with regard to: - the amalgamation of the Higher Education and Training Awards Council, the Further Education and Training Awards Council and the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland. The new agency will be known as the Qualifications and Quality Assurance Authority of Ireland (QQAAI). - the establishment of a new...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (8 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department's policy on educating children with autism is centred on an inclusive approach promoting the use of a range of autism specific interventions including TEACCH, PECs and Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA). Under this approach, each child can benefit from a number of different interventions to ensure the optimum individualised educational programme for him/her. Educational...